Favorite Autumnal MAC Lip Products

One of my favorite things about autumn is the makeup. Berry lips & burgundy eyeshadows are my weakness and they are my go-to looks for this time of year. Lips wise, MAC just seem to have the best A/W selection and here are my top lip champions for the colder season:

MAC Soar // Review & Swatches

Soar (here) has received so much praise from bloggers, myself included, and with good reason. It’s just one of those suit-everyone products that add extra something-something to any look. The beautiful pink-y brown shade has slight berry tone to it, making it perfect for the season. I just love the way it boosts my confidence and it has that effortlessly sophisticated vibe to it, which I am all about. It’s matte, easy to apply and non-drying. What else could you ask for? I like to wear it on its own or pair it with MAC Syrup for some added sheen.

MAC Syrup // Review & Swatches

Speaking of MAC Syrup (here), this baby just screams ‘Autumn’ to me. If you are into cool toned mauve-y pink shades, you will absolutely love this one. I love the hint of purple it’s got and it just looks beautiful paired with both a smokey eye and an everyday eye makeup look. The formula is a Lustre, so not the most pigmented but it has gorgeous glossy finish.

MAC Velvet Teddy // Review &Swatches

As I said, I do love me some burgundy on my eyelids and pairing it with a nude lip is a stunning combo and something I’ve been sporting ever since September rolled around. I find that Velvet Teddy (here) does this job the best and its warm brown-y nude shade compliments the reddish tones beautifully. That lippy gives me some serious Victoria’s Secret angel vibes and I love how plump and full it makes my lips look. The formula of Velvet Teddy is a good’un as well. It is matte with just a touch of sheen, it’s creamy and stays put for decades. It’s the perfect nude, basically. And yes - you need it!

MAC Rebel // Review and Swatches

If you are regular round these parts, you will know that Rebel (here) is my all time favorite lipstick. I wear it all year round but come the colder months it just settles permanently in my makeup bag. Rebel just does something to my confidence and the minute I apply it I feel 10x better about myself. It is a deep fuchsia berry shade and depending on the look you’re after you can build it up or down. I love how feminine Rebel is and its touch of edginess is something I just adore. Paired with a leather jacket and heels it just looks bomb.

Which is your favorite Autumn lip product?

Lots of love,

Andrea

Reasons Why I Love Autumn

Happy Autumn everyone! Today is the first day of fall and I am currently snuggled up in a blanket with a cup of white hot chocolate and fuzzy socks on. I feel beyond cozy and I thought today is the perfect time to do a post like this. Autumn is definitely my favorite season and here are some of the reasons why I think it’s the most magical time of the year (after Christmas time, obviously).

1. Scented candles

2. Pumpkin Spice Lattes

3. Watching Marnie jump into piles of leaves

4. Bonfire nights

5. Leaves changing color

6. Crisp air

7. Taking Lush baths

8. The smell of fire in a chilly evening

9. Halloween

10. Pumpkin carving

11. Berry lips and plum eyeshadows

12. Homemade apple pie

13. Apple picking  

14. Listening to the rain pouring outside

15. Eating my weight in roasted marshmallows

16. Knitted jumpers and cozy oversized scarfs

17. Wrapping myself up in a blanket in front of the TV

18. Kitchen smelling of cinnamon and nutmeg

19. Fuzzy socks

20. Cozy snuggles in front of the fireplace with a glass of red wine

21. Scary movie marathons

22. Hot drinks in pretty autumnal mugs

23. Reading books by the fireplace

24. Long walks in the beautiful misty mornings

25. Starting the Christmas countdown eek!

What’s your favorite thing about Autumn?

Lots of love,

Andrea

The Perfect Red // MAC Cherry

I’ve been feeding my lip liner obsession a lot recently but the last time I hit MAC I decided to stay away from my favorite nudes and go for something brighter. The first thing that caught my eye was Mac Cherry Lip Liner (here). For me it’s just the perfect red.

Cherry is the perfect blend of cool and warm tones, which really compliments my skin tone (NW 20 for reference). It is such a classic shade and I love it. It’s bright, vibrant and flattering. It makes my teeth look whiter and if I’m having a ‘meh’ skin day this baby saves the day. It brightens up my complexion beautifully and gives me that extra bit of confidence I need.

Red lip is sometimes too much of a hustle and that’s the reason why I love using this baby. As it’s a lip liner, Cherry gives great precision and I actually love wearing on its own. If you want though, you can pair it with Ruby Woo – it matches is perfectly.

Cherry seriously won me over formula wise, too. It’s somehow more creamy and less drying than my other MAC lip liners and it goes on like a dream. The pigmentation is insane and one coat is all you need to get full blown color. Cherry doesn’t smudge easily and I get about three hours of wear without fading or budging. Love.

Have you tried MAC Cherry lip liner before? Which is your favorite red lip liner?

Lots of love,

Andrea

Green Smoothie Bowl Recipe

Smoothies are without a doubt my favorite type of breakfast. They are easy and quick to make, incredibly delicious and not to mention super healthy and nutritious. The fact that I’m starting the day with a nice serving of fruits and veggies makes me feel really good about myself and actually gives me that push to eat better throughout the day. It’s a win-win really, which make smoothies my favorite morning treat.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, the smoothie bowls have taken over the world. And I am obsessed. I like that they are more of proper breakfast and you can sit down and eat them with a spoon whilst you are scrolling down your favorite blogs. And the fact that you can add all sorts of different, nutritious toppings? Yes, please! I do love adding toppings on my food, so this is just ideal.

I’ve been playing around with differentrecipes and ingredients and this one must be my fave so far. It takes ten minutes to make and I love how creamy and filling it is. You can obviously customize this smoothie bowl recipe and add anything you fancy, so don’t be afraid to experiment. I sometimes like to add pineapple, raspberries, chia seeds or matcha powder. It’s entirely up to you really. You can also use any kind of non-diary milk but I find that the Alpro Coconut Almond one compliments all ingredients beautifully and adds a touch of sweetness too.

As with your normal smoothie, just add all ingredients in the blender and blend away. Simple as. Then it’s time for the fun part – adding the toppings! Here is where you can get really creative but for this particular recipe I kept it simple. Shredded coconut, blueberries and crushed raw almonds. Yum!

Just give this green smoothie bowl a try, you’ll fall in love, I promise! And if you are trying to eat more healthy this could be a great afternoon snack as well.

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

·      ½ ripe avocado

·      2 bananas

·      2 large handfuls of spinach

·      2 cups of Coconut Almond

·      1 cup of rolled oats

Toppings:

·      blueberries

·      shredded coconut

·      crushed raw almonds

Which is your favorite smoothie bowl recipe?

Lots of love,

Andrea

IKEA Haul

In case you didn’t know my boyfriend and I bought a brand new apartment a while ago. After saving up like crazy, the time to finally renovate and furnish the apartment has finally come and as you can imagine the excitement is real! We recently hired an interior designer for our kitchen and dining room and they advised us to go have a look at some kitchens in stores, so we have an idea as to what mechanisms we want built in. Alex suggested we went to IKEA and needless to say I instantly jumped at the opportunity!

Now I don’t know exactly how much work we got done kitchen wise, but I surely found some exciting new bits to add to my forever-growing IKEA collection. I won’t bore you with everything I got, but here are some of my fave bits I picked up:

Cacti set. Being a blogger cliché again, I know but look how adorable! And they are perfect for photography props, so expect to see them often round these parts haha.

As soon as the new IKEA catalogue arrived last week I’ve wanted to get some of their new plates. I got three pattern ones and I especially love this one here for desserts. How pretty!

This (here) fluffy rug has been on my wish list for ages (mainly to take some pretty Instagram worthy pics on, let’s be honest) so it finally landed in my basket. It’s so super soft and fluffy and Marnie has been glued to it since Sunday. He absolutely loves it, and I do too, so brace youself for all the upcoming Insta flatlays with it in the background lol.

Lanterns make everything cozy and since I’m in a super Autumn-y mood I decided that this lantern would be a great match in my autumnal home décor. It's cheap as chips as well.

Colorful, pastel straws. The perfect addition to my morning smoothies. 

I love cards and I love sending them to people, so I couldn’t say to no these ice lollies ones. They are perfect for putting in frames too, which made me get some black and white ones. I really want to give a gallery wall a try before we move and these Fiskbo ones are perfect.

I’ve never seen IKEA as a place to buy stationary but just look at these washi tape cuties. I love the fact that they are monochrome and would be a great addition to my Filofax entries.

Have you picked up anything amazing from IKEA recently?

Lots of love,

Andrea